As the oil-rich Gulf economies boom, the hobbies of its wealthy local populations tend to become big business - and nowhere is that more true than for horses, a traditional passion of the region's Bedouin tribes.

*Poor urban infrastructure and high youth unemployment helped fuel the
Arab Spring and governments across the region must tackle both if they
are to prevent further unrest, the United Nations said earlier this
week.

A joint venture, to be 60 percent owned by QInvest, will hold the Egyptian banks core businesses: asset management, research, brokerage and investment banking. Once the deal closes EFG shareholders will get a one-off dividend payout worth one third of EFG's current $1.1 billion market capitalisation.

Emerging economies have made great strides, helped by sounder policies and unusually high commodity prices. But progress is not inevitable. Regression will bring the crises of the past says Ian Campbell.